Lucky
by xin4
Summary: OotP era. Tonks and Lupin take the Knight Bus back to London after dropping the students back at Hogwarts after Christmas. Fluffy nonsense mostly.


A/N: Yes, yes, it's September. But the temptation of decorating Remus was too much to resist, I hope you'll forgive me. Many thanks for the kind words left on my other stories. :)

Lucky

The Knight Bus was just as full on the way back to London as it had been that morning – witches and wizards lounged in every plush chair on the bottom and middle decks, squashed into a much closer proximity than was altogether comfortable. When Tonks and Lupin re-boarded the bus at Hogsmeade, they climbed to the top and with some difficulty pushed their way to the back of the deck, where one threadbare armchair was left unoccupied in a corner where some forgotten, mediocre tinsel still hung limply around the dusty window frame.

Lupin motioned to the empty chair but Tonks made no move to sit down in it. She appreciated his gesture but sitting awkwardly while craning her neck to maintain conversation the entire way home wasn't her idea of fun.

"Thanks, but I'll stand."

He tipped his head in a subtle nod in response, reaching to grip the leather loop above his head as the engine began to rev and rumble two floors below. The whole bus lurched violently when they started moving, catching the pink haired witch off guard and sending her stumbling straight into Remus.

She flushed a deep red immediately, too quickly for her to conceal with a wrinkled nose and little concentration.

"S-sorry, sorry..." she stammered, cursing her clumsiness as Remus twisted his face into that almost furtive half-grin of his and used his free arm to help steady her. She avoided his gaze, embarrassed, and looked around the deck instead. The chair she'd declined seconds before had already been taken, dragged across the floor by a young wizard who was now sharing it with a very pretty witch. The rest of the space between chairs was packed with people, and Tonks had a feeling that she and Remus had the most room on the entire bus.

That changed once the bus drew to a juddering halt not five minutes later. The short journey had passed in a silence crossed exactly halfway between embarrassed and companiable; conversation stymied by reluctance to talk about Order matters, and neither quite sure whether they knew each other well enough to discuss personal matters unprompted yet. A rowdy group of five made their way onto the top deck before the bus set off again without any warning, causing a shuffling around which meant Tonks and Lupin were forced further into the corner. Moving in such a confined space meant Remus banged his head slightly on the dusty luggage rack, pulling down a drab strand of gold tinsel as he did so.

"Do you think this is how the decorations are put away after Christmas?" he asked, shaking his head slightly so the tinsel fell to the floor. "They just let unsuspecting passengers fall victim to the after-effects of a deteriorating Sticking Charm?"

"It would make sense," Tonks said, glancing around again. "This is the farthest corner and it's the only part left decorated."

They noticed the browning and wilted mistletoe almost simultaneously, nestled between a gold Hippogriff figurine suspended in mid air and the luggage rack, the stalk hanging directly over them. Both looked away pointedly, he out of the window and she at the floor, both pretending to the other that they hadn't seen it. There'd been an _occasion _over the Christmas period involving mistletoe, Firewhiskey and a drunken Sirius insisting "it's tradition, Remus. It would be bad luck not to kiss the lady."

Neither had mentioned it since, but Tonks would have bet her broomstick that Remus was, like her, suddenly bombarded with the memory of it.

Another violent stop sent at least two people on their deck flying, one of whom was a portly wizard standing close behind Tonks. She managed, to her relief, not to fall against Remus' chest again but he moved in anticipation of her anyways, knocking the model Hippogriff with the back of his hand in doing so, and provoking some kind of obviously worn-out charm on it – it made a noise that had obviously once been some kind of carol, and was now little more than a low buzzing interjected with slurred, seasonal words.

The wizard who'd fallen against Tonks had picked himself up and was apologising profusely in a heavily Scouse accent. She didn't notice, having glanced up to see where the noise was coming from, she'd caught sight of the mistletoe again, and judging by the crimson spots appearing on Lupin's cheeks so had he.

"Remus?" She said tentatively. His gaze met hers immediately, eyes wide and blue with a kind of hold-your-breath anticipation that she'd never seen in them before. She cleared her throat before she spoke again.

"Uhm… the, er, the conductor's coming over." It was true but that didn't quash the strange feeling she got, halfway between relief and disappointment at knowing whatever hint of a moment there may have been had just truly been ruined.

"So he is," Lupin replied shortly, the merest hint of a frustrated sigh in his voice as he dug around in his robe pockets for coins.

"'Leven Sickles, mister, miss." Stan Shunpike nodded to Remus, and smiled cloyingly at Tonks, not taking his eyes off her even when Lupin pressed enough fare for both of them into his outstretched palm. It wasn't until he coughed that Stan moved on, with a look of regret, to the Scouse wizard behind them, murmuring something under his breath as he went. Tonks laughed, but Remus just looked regretfully at the three Knuts remaining in his hand before replacing them in his robes.

"You shouldn't have paid mine," Tonks said apologetically, feeling horribly guilty, the Sickles in her pocket jangling noisily as the bus rounded a sharp corner.

"Nonsense." Lupin smiled wryly, the look of regret long gone. "What else do I have to spend my money on? Sirius would only coerce it out of me through card games if I didn't dispose of it in other ways."

Thoroughly unconvinced, Tonks fell silent. Remus spent the little remaining time of the journey gazing out of the opposite window, cheeks still slightly pink but otherwise seemingly quite cheerful. Above him and just next to that accursed mistletoe, the model Hippogriff was still valiantly trying to sing, though not much more than the buzzing noise could be heard over the chatter of the rest of the deck and the snorting rumble of the engine. Tonks didn't initiate any conversation, unable to think of a way to bring it back round to where they'd almost been before Stan interrupted them, and reluctant to gloss over it; the resultant lack of conversation stretching ten minutes into what seemed like hours.

By the time the bus screeched to a halt outside of the Leaky Cauldron, Tonks couldn't have been more relieved. Ten or so people got off at the pub, Tonks and Lupin among them, not wanting to draw attention to Grimmauld Place by having the bus stop there twice in one day. Pushing past the remaining passengers to disembark, the biting cold hit them before their feet could touch the pavement – a stark contrast to the sleepy warmth of the bus.

"I would suggest a Butterbeer to chase off the chill, but –"

" – I'm due at work in ten minutes." Tonks finished. Remus nodded, and checked his watch.

"Will you Apparate directly from here?" It was Tonks's turn to nod in answer.

"I don't see why not. Safer to Apparate than to walk, what with the bad luck and all." She didn't know where the words were coming from, hardly knew how she dared to even hint at what she suspected she was about to say.

"Bad luck?" Remus tipped his head curiously, as though trying to work out where Tonks was leading the conversation. A mingled expression of realisation and amused embarrassment crossed his features suddenly, and he looked as though he couldn't stop the wry smile that was forming on his lips. "The mistletoe."

"Sirius did say … and now we've brought on the bad luck." Thrills of adrenaline coursed through her, though her voice was level when she spoke. She was filled with wonder that he seemed to be on her wavelength.

"I suppose in such a dangerous profession as yours, being cursed with bad luck would be most inadvisable." His eyes twinkled blue now and Tonks could fully see for the first time the Marauder in him. "I suppose now would be too late to rectify the problem."

"You could try." She shrugged, but the smile tugging at her mouth mirrored his. "If you didn't then we'd definitely be cursed."

"Well now, that would just be bad manners." He smiled his half-grin again, and then he was stooping slightly, his arms were pulling her closer; his freezing lips were pressed to her own. There was no Leaky Cauldron anymore; no painfully cold snow or bracing wind, even the Muggle who'd rolled her eyes on sight of their robes seemed to have disappeared. There was only Remus; his soft kiss and gentle fingers, now laced in her hair. It was nothing like the Firewhiskey-fuelled clumsiness of last time, there was no Sirius roaring with laughter beside them for one, and when he broke the kiss, Remus didn't mumble apologetically and leave.

He seemed reluctant to let her go, pressing two more quick, chaste kisses to her lips before his gaze met hers, eyes searching for a reaction.

"How do you feel?"

She said only one word before she Disapparated.

"Lucky."


End file.
